UberEats to continue in the capital despite Uber's loss of London licence

UberEats, the food delivery arm of Uber, is expected to continue to operate in London following the news today that the company’s private hire operator licence in London would not be renewed next month.

McDonald’s, which launched a delivery service with UberEats in the UK with trials in London, Leeds and Nottingham this summer, says that UberEats is “completely separate” and that Uber’s loss of licence to operate in London will not impact on the food delivery side of Uber.

There “shouldn’t be any impact at all in terms of the service that is offered through delivery,” according to a McDonald’s spokeswoman.

Earlier today (22 September) Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) told Uber its private hire operator licence would not be renewed next month. TfL said Uber London was not “fit and proper” to hold a private hire operator licence on multiple grounds.

Uber did not respond to BigHospitality’s calls and emails, but London free newspaper Metro reported that a spokesperson for Uber had said UberEats would continue to function as usual.

Meanwhile a petition to save the Uber’s car-hire licence in London prompted Uber London to post a petition ‘to save Uber’ on Change.org. “This ban shows the world that London is far from being open and is closed to innovative companies, who bring choice to consumers and work opportunities to those who need them,” it says.

UberEats launched in London last year and aims to expand to 40 UK locations by the end of 2017.

It is present in an increasingly competitive market that includes Just Eat, Hungryhouse, Amazon, Deliveroo and SimplyFastFood.